The First Chapter of a New Life

Alarms rang, with grabby hands, I tried to locate where my phone is. I flipped the phone open, the alarm sounded even louder. With big white digits, it shows, 6:00 am with the caption underneath it "ASSOLATU KHAIR MINANNAUM" I wrote just to make it more intimidating and more the 'self-sentap'. I pushed my duvet, and got out to the bathroom as quiet as possible as Tasha is still sound asleep,

Oh anyway Tasha is my roommate. She's okay, I guess. I don't really get along with her that  much, We don't really talk much too. So in the room it's basically we do our own work and mind our own business. I really hate that to be honest. The atmosphere was always awkward and intense but oh well it's only the third month here. We have another seven solid month to change that. Which I doubt it'll happen. Erk.

I got ready for class at about 8 because most of my class usually starts the earliest at 10 but we have to get ready an hour before the time as the journey to campus took so much time. At 9 I took a quick breakfast and went on the bus. Our journey to campus takes two bus rides. One is from our hostel building to the padang kawad and then another bus is from padang kawad to the destination our class is held. But if your class is just near the padang kawad you usually don't have to take the bus you might as well walk because buses are always full and crowded like a can of sardine all tryna fit in that little blue bus. Well as for me, my classes are way too far for me to be walking.

My daily class schedule aren't that pack. I usually have 1 or 2 classes a day which is not so tiring. But what's tiring is that the mountains of assignments and labwork I need to do. And I only take 2 subjects this semester with an additional optional subjects which is French I take for extra units. You see it's kind of relaxing right? BUT IT'S NOT. It's REALLY NOT.

The students in my school and course consists of various of people from different backgrounds and ages. Some of them are from STPM, some from diploma and some are from matrics, but they are all excellent students. Straight As 4.00 CGPA students. I feel so low of myself, so insecure seeing these people. It feels like I'm in The Hunger Games arena and thinking, "How am I going to kill these people?"

To say that I am having a hard time in college is an understatement. Despite having so many assignments to do, I have a hard time stopping myself from spending so much on food and books and stuff here. Things here are expensive. There are some cafes that offers quite a cheap price for food but most of them are pricey. Textbooks - up to RM100 each. Other books, and documents and lecture notes need to be printed out, costs more money. And let's not start about having fun. Once in while I went out on an outing with my friends for stress relief. Sometimes we go shopping, explore the campus or off-campus places and watch movies at the cinema. ALL OF THAT COSTS MONEY. And if you think RM50 can last a week? Nope. RM50 sometimes can't even last a day. Call me what you want but I swear I've tried my best to limit my spending every time. In order to do that, I even start to puasa, and just eat instant noodles.

But at the bright side, I met a wide range of new people from different backgrounds from different classes I attend and befriended them . Anis and Sara are the ones I stayed with the most. We're inseparable. I got some awesome chinese friends as well and they are great people. I have never got the chance to have chinese friends back in school or matrics and it's really nice to have some here. Then I get to know Farah, and surprised we had a lot of things in common. And also a fellow bookworm, Faizah which I initially got to know her online before I came to USM and coincidentally end up at the same university. I get to attend a few usrah and get to know my usrahmate and naqibah which are such inpiring and really great people. Life's great, really.

And as you read all those things I've told you up to this point, you can say that my life now got its ups and downs (downs mostly) but yeah this is what university life's all about. Or as what my French madame used to say, "C'est la vie!"

-naj